what is a printer spooler??

Question

I have been having problems with my printer and i don't know what the printer drive or a printer spooler is... any ideas??

Answer 1

I will try to put this as basic as I can for you, so please everyone who reads it don't get annoyed if i skim over alot of things - the basics is more important.

Print Driver:
A print driver is kind of like an interpreter. Your computer speaks one language - say English. Your printer speaks another language - say Japanese.
To get them to talk to one another they need an interpreter - the print driver. The driver takes what the computer is saying to it, and then repeats that in a language the printer understands, so that it knows exactly what to put onto the paper.

Print Spooler:
Using the same analogy as above, think as the spooler as a person talking the language. It gives the command from the computer to print out your document.

Now if you are having problems with your printer, it is a great bet that either your print spooler is a problem, or more likely, your printer driver is causing you issues.

To check for the print sppoler being wrong, you can right click on the My Computer icon, and then click on manage. This will open up a computer management console. In the panel on the left is an option to select "services and applications", and then below that is an option called services. In here there is a service called "print spooler". What you can do (and you can do this when the printer locks up) is stop this service. This cuts windows communication to the printer. Then all you have to do is restart it. Good as new.

If your problem is that you cant print at all, then this is a different issue. What you should do is go to your printer manufacturer's website, and download the print driver that matches your printer. Then uninstall the old driver, and install the new one.

If none of these things fix your printer, and judging by your expertise in computers (just based on your question), I would take your computer with the printer to a repair guy, or just buy a new printer - they are really cheap now.

Hope that helps a little, and to anyone reading this who does not agree with my definitions, they are the most basic way I can think of putting them without loosing the essence of what they do. Don't sue me - you can always google it for the exact definitions.

Answer 2

Printer driver is the software that tells your computer how to communicate with the printer. Spooler is a service that "spools" or feeds the print job to the printer.

If you are having problems disconnect your printer from the pc, shut it off, uninstall the printer software from the pc, restart, reinstall the printer software and follow the instructions on the printer setup to know when to reconnect your printer.

Still having problems, you could have corrupted files or damaged ports, or something else... That's a more complicated problem that needs a pro.

Answer 3

The spooler is where your computer, when you click print, sorts out and puts together the print job before sending it the printer. The driver is the software that lets the printer connect to the computer and print. You really need both. If eithere one of them are acing wierd, you'll have problems. You may have to un-install, and then re-install your printer. If your computer doesn't have the driver built-in, you may have to download it from the manufacturer's website support section (recommended).

Answer 4

a printer spooler is a program that loads your computer file and changes it into a printable file for the printer to be able to read. A printer driver tells your computer about about the printer and how to work with it. Try unistalling the drivers, reboot, and then reinstalling them

Answer 5

well i think the spoller is the file that the printer recies to print but i could be wrong most printers need that file to print